The forthcoming movie “Ad Astra” is, so far, pretty mysterious. It has looked pretty interesting, dare I say intriguing. And then…

Brad Pitt: Space movie ‘Ad Astra’ also about toxic masculinity

For frak’s sake. “Ad Astra” is, to all appearances, a serious, science fiction/adventure/action movie. Who the frak do you think your audience is? My guess: exactly the sort of people who are quite sufficiently sick and damn tired of hearing about the supposed evils of “toxic masculinity.”

The article itself does not read as horrible as the headline suggests. But as”First Man” showed, it doesn’t take much to irritate the potential viewers. In a story where the hero has to save the world, where if he fails everybody dies, “emotional vulnerability” is a weakness you can’t afford. It may well be fine to have a main character who has the character flaw of emotional troubles, but he has to overcome, bypass, defeat that weakness and get the damn job done. Luke Skywalker? Just lost his family, left the only home he ever knew, just saw his mentor disappear in a puff of logic. So what does he do? Sucks it up, straps on a starfighter and blows up a few million Imperial noncombatants. James T. kirk was upset from time to time, but he’d die before displaying emotional weakness.